Light in the Dark
by Peach Mango Pie
Summary: Echo takes on the task of bringing Yuno back to life. An unlikely pair from two opposite sides of the world - who gets to save who from the dark and lonely night?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword, or any of its playable characters or NPC's

Warnings:

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't reached the Missions in Atlas Station, I suggest you play it first before reading this

Out of Character behaviors

Some inconsistencies with the game

Minor appearances of some characters with implied pairings

* * *

 _I was in the dark till I saw you smile. And in silence till I heard you laugh. I felt nothing till we touched and you made me feel more alive than I was before you pulled me out of the darkness_

Chapter 1

* * *

"What do you want?"

Add looks down at her, afloat from his dynamo, crossed-leg and with a default smug look on his face. He jumps down and is followed by his weaponized plates.

"Is that anyway to greet your savior?"

The young alchemist places the tubes she's been fiddling with back in her satchel and gives Add an exasperated grin. She pulls a lollipop to nibble on.

"All hail the El Search Party, savior of Elrios, guardians of the world."

Add supplements the sarcasm with his own and takes a profound bow. The girl rolls her eyes and pulls a chair for him.

"How's business?" He asks, taking his seat. His dynamo makes a beeping sound and soars away.

"Terrible." She says after taking a good lick on her sweet, "Peace has costs me customers. I can't even pay my stupid rent to this place."

"Kind of expected you say to that." Add says. She responds with a mean glare.

"I don't really mean it, you dummy." She says, "No decent person will ever sustain market from blood wars. It's just – everything has been… uninteresting, lately."

"Didn't know you're a decent person." He teases him further, but then takes on a more serious tone right after. "But I do know your business was not the only cost paid in this victory."

He snaps his finger and his dynamo returns, this time carrying what looks like a large metal casket. The outside linings have NASOD techlight running through them, regulating energy throughout the casing.

The plates hover closer to the two. The young alchemist savors the sight, but isn't completely impressed. She's made one or two models of these Stasis Vessels before.

But then she sees an expression on Add she never thought she'd see.

Quiet sorrow.

"Who is it?" she asks softly, reaching out and placing her palm on the subtle vibrates of the surface.

"A fool." Add answers, slowly, as if to be accurate, "A friend. A hero."

She lets the young Mastermind in his own moment. He closes his eyes, and leans on the casing, almost as if he wants to embrace it. After a while, he takes a deep breath, and finally returns to his usual proud look.

"You know, the most irritating part about having friends is that you'll never get rid of the urge to protect them from what can cause them pain."

Beyond the many discussions they've had before involving hardcore Nasod tech ciphers and weapons optimizations this would be the most complicated thing she's heard from him. And the most unexpected, particularly adding the term 'friend' in the mix.

Add might've sensed the confusion there, but makes no effort to elaborate further. He instead makes an offer.

"4 billion Ed for accepting the job, including expenses necessary for completion." He says. The shock causes her to drop her lollipop.

"Additional 10 billion for successful outcome." He continues.

"Hold on, you don't have that kind of money." She tells him. Add pulls a small bag from his coat and throws it at the table.

Luster passes through the cloth sheet of the bag as small rays of sunlight touches it. At first disbelieving, she opens the bag to behold not silver, not gold, but Elriolite – the rarest element in Elrios, and an absurd unit of currency in the land.

Each nugget the size of a small pebble is worth 10 million Ed, and Add has just handed her a bag full of it.

"My entire savings, plus a few favors I had to call." Add tells her. "Echo, I beg you – do what you can to bring back our friend."

He hands her another bag, this one not as heavy as the last, but by how he holds the thing, it might be a lot more valuable.

First sentimental, now begging? This can't be the same lunatic that has been obsessed with Nasod tech. But when she looks at him, there's nothing short of genuine resolve in his eyes.

* * *

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword or any of its characters

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

She gives a cruel smack on the side of the alleged worthless device, mind you her own creation. When the square contraption finally thrums with energy and lights up, she takes a step back.

"Okay, entry number 341 – sponsored project by one Edward Granore, also known as Add. Focus subject deemed non-living material until otherwise proven by procedure."

She puts the recorder down the table near her computer and clears her throat.

The second bag Add gave her contains blue fragments of what she thinks would form a fist-sized sphere. She takes all the fragments and puts it on en empty glass ball. She smiles upon seeing the container accommodate the fragments perfectly. The ball having been sealed, she places it on top a flat machine where the ball floats and begins to rotate in all sorts of directions.

"Now for the best part." She tells herself excitedly.

She walks over the stasis vessel and pushes some sections on the side. Buttons that weren't there initially appeared on the spot where she pressed, and a large wave of cold steam escapes from an opening. As the steam clears the top of the vessel opens to reveal a young boy.

"Most advanced NASOD specimen I've seen. Appearance of subject designed to be around 13-14 years of age. Yellow-green hair, pale skin, his body heavily damaged but onset assessment shows… degree is… um… degree is… repairable."

The face of the young boy is so serene and beautiful it distracted her from her entry. She removes her gloves and places a palm on his stout cheeks. He's cold as ice, but whatever tech made this next-gen NASOD used such a fine material his skin was as soft as a human's.

"Subject has sublime properties." She says softly, "Elegant, life-like design."

Her palms goes to his neck where the smooth finish made her caress it some more.

"Hey, that tickles."

She quickly pulls her hand and backs away from the body, surprised at the sudden voice, and at how her actions were bordering to pervasive. The body in the vessel hasn't moved an inch, nor does it show any signs of life. Tentatively she reaches out and pokes its neck.

She almost fell on the floor when she heard a giggle this time. The table keeps her upright, but the panic and suspense makes her legs wobbly.

"H-hello?" she asks carefully

"Hi!" comes the excited reply.

At lost for words as how it was happening, she abruptly begins shaking the shoulders of the enigma inside the vessel.

"Oh, hey, what's happening?" the voice asks.

"I can't believe it."

"You can't believe what?"

"Subject… subject is somehow making coherent communication." She swallows down the edge and takes a deep breath before continuing, "Will try to investigate means of communication further, but subject is already showing impressive outputs."

"Really? Cool! Who's this subject of yours?"

That's when she realized where the voice is coming from. She walks over the glass ball. The fragments have been combined. The computer has been analyzing the fragments to determine proper placement and the ball now has them in one complete sphere. She takes the glass ball in her hand.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Yuno. What's your name?"

The NASOD is clearly speaking through the combined fragments.

"E-cho. My name is Echo."

"Echo – that's a nice name." he says, "Echo. Echo. Echo." He repeats her name several more times, giggling in between like it's the most pleasurable thing to say.

Echo scratches her head, confused and embarrassed.

"Can you tell me where I am, Echo? I'm a bit lost, in a lot of ways."

"You're in my lab. In the town of Elder." She answers blankly, her mind still working out the part where she's talking to a glass ball.

"Hm, Elder. I wonder how I got here."

"Add brought you're here. Do you know him?"

"Yes I do! He's a friend! A friend!"

Echo cringes at the volume of his voice.

"Well, I'd give you a handshake, Echo, but I'm afraid I can't move. I don't even know where I am or who was poking me a while ago."

"Do you see anything?" she asks, looking at the body in the vessel while connecting all the variables of the situation.

"Nope. Just black." Yuno answers, "Though it does seem less black when I started hearing your voice. Hey, maybe if we keep talking I'll be able to see." He says excitedly.

Echo considers the proposal and forms a theory from it. Carefully she places the glass ball on the flat machine and walks to the vessel. She inputs a few commands on the interface and the vessel starts to make a subtle humming sound. After a while one of the sides begins to rise until the boy inside takes more of a vertical position, almost standing upright.

She puts her gloves again and gently pushes his eyelids up, revealing two large, shiny blue orbs.

"Can you see me?"

"Echo? Is that you?" the voice from the glass ball asks.

"Yes, it's me." Echo answers, almost smiling.

"I see you! I see you!" a short pause follows before his toned down voice continued, "Ah, you're pretty."

Echo quickly pulls her hand, abruptly closing Yuno's eyes and leaving the stasis side.

"Um, hey, are you still there?" asks the perplexed Yuno.

She jumps over to her recorder, face flustered and a foreign wave of emotion making her dizzy for a brief moment. After a few breathing seconds she calms down a bit.

"Are you okay, Echo?" comes Yuno's worried voice.

Echo purposely ignores him and speaks on the recorder. "Subject seems to be receptive of multiple stimuli but only when assisted, case in point manually opening the eyelids. Able to process said reception into subjective descriptions."

She blushes at the last bit of that entry. It'd be the first time someone openly called her that. Most adventurers would take a pass at her, sure, but she's never had such an honest compliment.

"Excuse me, Echo? Is there someone else with us? I feel you've been talking to someone, and it's not me."

"I'm recording." She says, finally able to calm herself.

"Oh, really? For what?"

"For reference." She says, taking a seat in in front one of her computers and typing some instructions in. The bottom part of her lab has its own docking protocols, and soon enough, several cords begin attaching themselves on the base of the vessel. A minute later her screen becomes busy with all sorts of information from the body inside.

"That's cool! Hello there! My name is Yuno." He says, a bit chipper. "I'm a NASOD created by my father, Adrian. Together with my best friend Nono, I used to be the Administrator of Atlas Station. Now… now I'm not sure what I am."

The later part of his words softens a bit. Echo stops her data-entry and looks at the body in the vessel. She already has an idea on how to go about fixing him, but she never thought she'd be interacting with his consciousness through core fragments.

For a while, Yuno doesn't speak. Judging by how lively he talks and engages, Echo can tell that's uncharacteristic.

"I often record stuff to get things off my mind. Scientific or not, saying things will help you through one of two things: make you think about them, or make you stop thinking about them – whichever will benefit you more." Echo tells him.

"Oh." He responds, sounding genuinely interested.

"Why don't you give your own entry? Record, give your account of things."

"Um, o-okay. Well, let's see. Uh, hi? My, my name is, Yuno?"

Echo can't help but laugh a bit at how nervous he just sounded. She takes on multitasking and starts picking through the damages on Yuno's body while keeping him talking.

"You already introduced yourself, silly."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Can we just erase that part?"

"Nope, it's staying there." She says in a somewhat teasing way. She hears a disgruntled puff, and imagines the young body in the vessel with a pout, which isn't difficult to picture.

"You said something about being an Administrator? In Atlas Station? Why don't you say something about that?"

"Oh, oh, Atlas Station is an awesome place!" he chirps, getting excited again, "It's kept afloat by the latest anti-gravity tech, and the temperature is kept stable in a spring-like feel. It's main function is to transport Diceon ores, but it can also accommodate travelers who wants a bit of nature combined with a futuristic feel…"

Her skills with NASOD keep her work at perfect accuracy, but at the same time she manages to listen to everything he says. She's never had anyone stay in the lab like this. She always thought it'll be a distraction.

Yuno takes her back to so many stories about Atlas Station – about the world outside of her lab, about his encounter with the El Search Party, and about his supposed death. His child-like voice and way of speaking make the account genuine, and almost pleasantly surreal. At some point she started filling in the blanks of his memory, as he clearly lost consciousness when his core was shattered.

While she concludes that she and Yuno will be spending a lot of time together, she considers the notion not so displeasing. Especially since he doesn't seem to be running out of things to say.

* * *

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword or any of its characters

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

"What was that?" Yuno suddenly asks.

She's been working for a couple of hours straight, immersed completely on the limbs areas of the NASOD-boy.

"What was what?" she asks a bit absentmindedly.

"There it is again. I think I've heard that sound before."

Echo stops, lifts the goggles from her eyes shielding her from the spark of her welding pen, and listens. A few seconds later she hears it, a light grumble.

It's coming from her. She's hungry.

"Maybe you should run a system's diagnostics, see if everything is okay." Yuno recommends.

"No need. It's just me."

"Huh?"

"I forgot I haven't had breakfast, AND lunch." She rolls on her chair towards a cabinet, pulls out a wrapped lollipop, and rolls back towards the vessel to continue working while nibbling on her breakfast/lunch. And most likely dinner, too.

"That's not good. You should eat!" Yuno tells her, "Elsword eats a lot. He says it's to keep him going in the fight. Oh, if you want something yummy to eat, Ciel makes the best cookies."

"Really? Are they really that yummy?" she asks, just to humor him.

"Uhuh – it has lots of chocolate chips, and perfectly crunchy, the kind you can still bite even after soaking in milk. Ah, but hey, don't change the subject!" he suddenly chastises. "You're supposed to eat."

"I am eating. See?" she reaches out and opens one of his eyelids. Yuno becomes quiet for a bit, until a few minutes later after Echo gives him a small grin and gently closes his eyelids again.

"Lollipop is not nutritious." He says.

"Why does it matter? It has sugar, and it'll be enough to get me through the day." Echo says, a bit annoyed at his persistence.

"It's not good for you, so it does matter. To me. You're my friend."

Echo was just about to continue with her work while nibbling on the sweet confection when he says that. She considers that term, and realizes she hasn't got anyone to call that.

"You… you are my friend? Right?" Yuno confirms softly, hesitantly, like he suddenly had doubts.

It's an endearing question, Echo thinks.

She decides to cook up her signature Whole Grain Bread.

Having completed the pastry, she walks over to him and opens his eyelids again to show him a mouthful and a masticated loaf on one hand.

"There, happy?" she asks.

"Very."

"Great. And yes- yes, you are."

"I'm what?" Yuno asks.

"My friend."

"Really?" he asks shyly.

"You don't want to?" Echo asks in tease, licking her fingers clean of any morsel.

"I want to! I want to!" Yuno answers in urgency, "I'm happy to be your friend, Echo."

Echo reaches under her table for a bottle of Desert Cola all the way from Sander. It's a meager meal, but it's ten times better than lollipop – even she would admit that. Finally ridding them both of the sound that is her stomach grumbling, she resumes her work.

A light, fresh feeling makes the repairs a lot easier for Echo this time, and she quietly wonders whether it's the unfamiliar more or less proper meal she just had, or the strange, wonderful words from Yuno's last statement.

Maybe both, she admits.

"So what do you do in Atlas Station?" she finds herself asking, right when Yuno has decided to stop talking.

"A bunch of stuff. Mostly making sure diceon minerals are properly mined and transported to Atlas City."

"Interesting. So you work full time there?" she asks again, going through the next phase of her repairs.

"Uh-huh, but I do play with Nono sometimes. He's my NASOD companion, my best friend. Actually the only friend I had before Elsword and his team came. And before you."

He had an upbeat tone in his later part of his answer, and again Echo takes time to allow a smile on her face.

"How about you? Do you fix things for a living?" Yuno asks.

"Sometimes. Mostly I make things for adventurers. Food, drinks, potions, crystals. I helped Elsword a couple of times toughen up his gear."

"Ah, but you're fixing me right now. Does that mean you can't get any customers?" he asks worriedly.

"It's fine. I…" she was about to say she was being compensated for work, but decides to withhold it. "I've saved up enough to last a couple of days. Besides, I want to make sure my friend gets his body working again."

She says just to keep playing this whole 'friendship' game running. If she's already established that hearing him speak allows her to work more productively, then might as well stay on the road she's in.

"Know what, Echo? I really want my facial expression working right now."

"Why's that?"

"So I can smile at you." He says softly, like it's a secret just between them both.

Echo lets go of the welding pen to grab her chest. Her heart is beating fast. It's a foreign feeling, yet it's also somewhat pleasant.

The clock tower of Elder clangs, the loud sound muffled from the thick walls of her lab, signaling the late evening hours.

"I think, I'm getting a little sleepy." Says the NASOD boy.

The light of the glass ball is growing a little dim. Echo quickly runs systems check on the computer she just brutalized earlier today. Data shifts through the screen and she scans the whole set. She breathes a sigh of relief upon seeing the information she needed. The orb is running with similar features of a human brain activity. It really is Yuno's consciousness going on stasis, or in a way, sleeping.

"It's fine, you go sleep."

"Will you be here when I wake up?" Yuno asks lazily.

"Of course I will."

"Okay, then I'll take a quick nap. See you later, Echo."

She puts on her welding goggles again and resumes the work she's doing on his left arm. With her attention finally centered into one place, she figured she'll be able to complete a good portion of the task. But it hasn't even been an entire hour when she suddenly feels restless and unfocused. A couple of times she burnt her glove from accidental inputs. Finally admitting she's not going to go far, she decides to record her findings instead.

She starts giving account of the last few hours, particularly on Yuno's capacity to perceive things despite his main core detached from his body. She speaks of his strong desire for social interaction, and reluctantly admits hearing him talk has increased work output by a significant percent.

Echo rolls towards the vessel and observes the 'sleeping' body inside. It's so easy to picture him being hyper active despite not seeing him wake. She continues to speak to the recorder as she rests her head near Yuno's shoulder. Her accounts then steadily grow soft, then gibberish, until finally she falls asleep in what feels like a long overdue peaceful rest.

A soft touch of light goes through the confined lab. It gently pulls the girl from sleep, and she finds herself where she left her work – right beside Yuno.

Weird though that she'd have her gloves removed and holding Yuno's hand.

She lets go immediately, and that's when she hears him.

"Good morning, Echo!" he says excitedly. "It's going to be a great day today."

Echo rubs her eyes and cranes her neck. It's a nice sleep, but it did leave her a bit sore on the neck.

"How do you know?" she asks, pulling another bottle of Desert Soda and finishing it in one gulp.

"Well, I get to hear you again, so that's one reason." He says.

It's not bad hearing such mushy, sugary lines like that, especially in the morning. She managed to get over the blushes whenever he pulls those lines on her though, so chances are she's getting used to having his voice around.

But she does consider the one thing she's been doing more often – smiling.

With that, she continues working on the remaining 70% of his body. From time to time she'd strike up a conversation. More often he'd be the one to ask a question, like what's it like living in Elder, if she likes playing tag with dangerous monsters, or if he could one day try that bread she made.

Needless to say she's become a talkative worker.

Around midafternoon Echo pulls out another lollipop and lets some of her tools do the work for her. Before she could take a good lick, she decides to save the sweet for later and just cook something up. She realizes she's in the mood for Beef Jerky, and takes a couple of minutes to make some.

"Wow, that smells reaaally good." Yuno exclaims, making a sniffing sound afterwards.

"It's beef jerky. I'll make some for you too once we got you moving again."

"Yay! I bet you make the best, most delicious food, Echo."

She tries to ignore the comment, but again she's not able to stop the side of her lips from lifting.

After a healthy meal she resumes her work, and stays on a steady pace until evening. She got hint of the late hours when she finally hears him yawn, right before the town bell rings.

Yet he keeps her company still, and even does monologue like what he'll do when he gets his body back, or how he misses Nono, and that she and Nono would probably get along well. The light of the fragment steadily grows dim until it's reduced to just a flicker, telling Echo he's fighting off sleep.

"Echo? What will you do after you fixed me?" he asks.

"The usual. Maybe get more clients, start things off again with alchemy."

"I feel bad. You could be having fun with work, or with your friends, but you're here, putting me back together." He yawns, and his speech gets a little drunk.

Echo stops to process that. Work is fun, yeah, but she's long lost interest with what she does. Her focus on constant breakthrough gives her an indifferent drive, but only so she can get to the next best thing There was never a lively passion. Probably why people thinks she's more of a snob than a genius.

"Don't. I like what I do, especially if I'm doing it with a friend." She assures him.

"You're a great person, Echo. I'm so happy you get to be the one to fix me. I like you a lot."

The light finally goes out completely.

"Really?" Echo asks softly, her face getting immediately and completely hot.

"U-huh. Lot's and lot's."

Most of the work she had to do for the next step is covered by her tech: arms, wires, tools all moving on their own and doing her work for her. It gives her lots of space to put some decent entry in the recorder, which is what she intended to do when she picks it up.

But she could only say a couple of words as she rolls over to Yuno's body, puts her face close to his and whispers. "I like you too, Yuno."

Again she falls asleep on the vessel with another restful night.

* * *

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword or any of its characters

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

When morning breaks with that first streak of sunlight through the lab her forehead was sticking to Yuno's cheek. She lifts her head, and finds a red spot on Yuno's baby face where she made her pillow.

"Good morning, Yuno." She grumbles.

"Good morning Echo!" Yunos calls loudly, making Echo release an amused grunt. "Another great day today, huh?"

She's running out of soda, so she makes a mental note to brew up some tea later and store it in the fridge. While chugging down a bottle, Echo rolls towards her computer to check on any progress her self-operating system has made.

"Yes, I think it's going to be." She says softly, wide-eyed and excited all of a sudden.

The system shows 90% progress. His entire body is almost fully repaired, save for the empty slot in his chest where the core is supposed to be placed.

She punches some commands through and smiles.

"I have a surprise for you, Yuno." She tells him.

"Oh, boy! What is it? What is it?!" comes the all-too-ecstatic response.

Echo giggles at him, and attaches a bunch of cords on the base where the glass ball is hovering on. The vessel and her computer synchronize with the flickering of the lights. As she was about to complete the relay of commands, she stops.

A sudden realization dawns on her – one she has never bothered with.

She pulls out a small mirror from her cupboard and starts removing all greases and smudges on her face. She redoes the ponytail after giving her long white hair a quick brush and readies herself in front of her computer. She presses the confirm key, and swerves her chair so she's facing Yuno.

"Yuno, try opening your eyes." She says, tucking a few strands of her hair behind her ear.

"O-okay."

His face first gains a bit of color, then the eyelids begin to move, until they slowly open up into the biggest pair of blue orbs. He blinks, not focusing on anything at first, gets a grasp of things and then looks intently at Echo.

A large smile forms on his face, and he gasps.

"Echo!" he calls out loudly through his own lips. "I can see you! I can see you!"

Echo smiles, shrugs, and blushes, which are the only things she can do aside from compressing what petite body she has in her little chair. It's not like he's seeing him for the first time, which makes this childish excitement worth it for her.

After the sudden burst, he attempts to wiggle from his spot. His face contorts adorably with the effort.

"Don't move too much." She warns, but the boy-NASOD persists and finally gets his desired outcome.

Arms raised and leaning towards her. Echo blinks in puzzlement.

When after a few seconds she didn't move from her spot, Yuno frowns a small, yet heartbreaking frown.

"What are you doing?" Echo asks, just so she can play along.

"I want to give you a hug." He says with a disappointed tone.

Echo raises an eyebrow at him, loathing both the fact that her heart almost melted at such a sight, and that she has ultimately decided to humor him against her usual personal boundaries.

"Dummy." She whispers while walking towards him. His face instantly lights up upon seeing her approach and widens the scope of her arms further as if wanting to take more of her in.

She would've settled for a quick, tap-like hug, but he wanted a full-blown embrace, their bodies squeezed together in an odd way, and his face against her bare shoulder.

Yuno makes a satisfied 'm' sound and breaths her in. Echo wouldn't have allowed anyone to touch her, let along enter a certain distance to her, but now she couldn't find it in herself to peel him away.

Finally surrendering to the situation, she closes her eyes, returns the hug, and lets the earth-scented hair of this beautiful creature get the better of her senses.

They probably would've stayed like that longer had it not for a strange beeping sound from her computer. They both gently pull away and stare at the flashing screen. Yuno is getting a good look at her tech for the first time, and still he's the first to speak.

"Your system is very primitive." He tells her innocently.

Echo feels a vein snap at that. No one has ever dared criticize her tools before, much less so openly.

"Well, this primitive system actually brought you back to life."

"Cool! That just shows how talented you are, Echo." He says, and Echo swears she heard a bit of pride there. "Looking at that data series you got there, I'd say you have an issue with power."

Echo slams a fast on the table in sheer frustration, making Yuno flinch. He's right, and it didn't help that he had to discover this for himself. The reason that stupid 10% didn't complete overnight is because she doesn't have the capacity to actually jumpstart his system to initiate perpetual energy circulation – sort of saying she won't be able to get his heart running like it used to.

"Stupid tech." she whispers, completely forgetting the fact that she made the thing herself entirely from scratch. "I can't get you working fully with what I have. Which means now you're back to normal, but only for a short duration."

"Don't worry about it, Echo." Yuno says reassuringly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Now that you got my body fixed and my core intact, my terminal in Atlas Station can serve as the ignition. I can't wait to finally return home."

Echo stops the series of commands she had been typing in her console and processes that statement. She starts recalling the majority of subjects coming from Yuno, and ultimately surmises that all he could think of since getting his consciousness back is returning to Atlas Station. And yet in between his stories, his innocent flattery and sweetness she became absorbed at having him around that not having him with her anymore seemed unreal.

And painful.

"I'm going to pull the plug first to calibrate on a few things. Your body will detach from the core again." She says coldly.

"O-okay." Yuno says, catching the sudden unaffectionate tone from Echo. At first he leans back from her, but then decides to offer his arms again. "Can I get another hug before you turn me off?" he says with an unsure, yet also hopeful smile.

Echo immediately shoves away the terrible twinge in her chest when Yuno referred to himself as being turned off by her. She keeps her focus in the computer, and her tone indifferent.

"Maybe later."

"Okay." Yuno responds softly, leaning back to the vessel, and giving a worried and sad look at Echo. As soon as he settled in, Echo immediately begins key strokes after key stroke to complete a hard execution. In seconds, Yuno leaves his body and enters the fragments again.

Blue light gleams through each shard of the core. Echo releases a deep sigh and pulls the ribbon holding her hair in. Ashen locks falls all over the place pass down her shoulders and she rummages through them like she's never done in a long time. She realizes she's never been so stuck before. Everything has been smooth, calculable, and predictable. Since meeting him, he's taken her into a pace she's never been to before, and she's made more progress in such a short period of time just by having him company.

But none of those matter now. He's not staying, and she feels foolish for making him a part of her.

"Echo?" he finally calls her after a few minutes of steady silence.

She doesn't answer.

"Echo? Are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here. What is it?" she responds with an aggravated tone.

"I just… wanted to hear your voice." He tells her weakly.

"If you don't have anything important to say, keep quiet. I need to concentrate." She says, contradicting the past few days when she couldn't even focus without his chatter filling her ears.

"I understand. I'm sorry, Echo." He says, sounding small and contrite.

A tight, squeezing feeling creeps its way into Echo's chest, but she suppresses it forcefully.

"You shouldn't have any problem not hearing me." She tells him, "You'll be used to it soon enough."

A short silence after that says Yuno gave her words a deep thought.

"What do you mean by that?" he asks.

"I'm sure Atlas Station will make things better for you. You'll have everything like it used to be, right? Everything you need, right there with you, and nothing else to worry about." She says angrily, mashing on the keyboard.

"Well, I'm hoping I'll be able to live peacefully again, and finally meet my brother in Elysion, my best friend Nono, Elsword and his gang, have the station running again…"

"What about me?" she interrupts in a quiet tone. "I guess you won't be needing me anymore after this, huh?"

When Yuno didn't give her an answer, she finally concludes she has no part in his life.

"Typical." She says, just to set her default, indifferent mode on again.

"Echo, I…"

"Rest up your core. I'll think of a way to temporarily power you up so I can take you to my client."

"Your… client?"

She opens rolled up prints and begins studying the contents, "Yeah, Add paid me a fortune to have you fixed."

"I thought you fixed me because… you're my friend." Yuno's voice sounds truthfully pained as he speaks, but Echo chooses to ignore how he said it, and instead gives a cynical laugh.

"Gee, feel free to think that if it makes your NASOD brain feel any better." She says afterwards, letting each word stab through, "I'm not sure how much you saw when you had your eyes open, but everything around my lab is junk. That's what I do for a living- people give me their junk and I make something good out of it. Add wasn't doing anything different when he brought you in."

By the time she realized what she just said, it was too late. Not that she'll find it in herself to apologize for it. On the contrary, with such a pace in her cruelty of words, might as well push the point across thoroughly.

"In a way you're no different too. All that junk you shared with me, hoping to get something out of me. I should probably charge you too…"

"You don't think I'm junk, Echo." He says firmly, but also desperately, his voice shaking through his words, "You don't. You're not that kind of person."

"Again, feel free to think that…"

"You're my friend!" he says, suddenly louder, more assertive, and more desperate, "You're… you're my…"

Whatever strength he found seems to have withered right after as his voice softens and weakens. He insists on saying that last line a few more times until finally, as the core succumbs to bleakness, he's lost in the silence.

Echo had been watching the monitor during the last few minutes. His stress level had used up most of the energy reserve she afforded him, ending up with his consciousness getting terribly worn out. He's now asleep, much earlier than usual.

It's a relief for Echo. As soon as she got her personal walls up again, hearing his voice from the other side was painful, more so that she's never heard someone so hurt before. But this isn't the first time anyone became a part of her life but then left ultimately. She's been through this phase– Elsword, Chung, Add – good people, with scheduled adventures that can't accommodate a simple visit to her unless they desperately needed her.

She pulls out a bag from her satchel and stares at the pile of red, glimmering stones inside. This is why she does it, no other reason matter. She wondered how much a life of a person actually costs – for Add, everything. For her, just a few billion Ed – at least that's what she's convinced herself of.

She wipes a single tear from her eye, takes a deep breath, and begins to attack the problem at hand.

* * *

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword or any of its characters

* * *

Chapter 5

* * *

The past few months have always been drifting back and forth into consciousness, at least on specific times of the day, majority of which he'd be all alone. Now, for the first time in what felt like a long time, he's opening his eyes in wake.

He tries to move and successfully does. Easily. Looking at everything on him, he's completely back to how he was, except for that small red, triangular shape on his blue core. He was about to touch it, when a fierce, rusty voice of a girl interrupts him.

"Don't touch that." Echo tells him, entering the lab from the stair case, "It took me all night to get that in perfectly."

"What is it?" he asks.

"For a third generation NASOD, I thought you'd be smarter. It's a piece of Elriorite. It has a stable source of energy that'll keep you running for a good amount of time."

He watches Echo type a few more commands in her computer. Different types of tech begin to traffic around them – machines, cords, monitors all moving on their own and into their proper casings. All the while, Echo is moving with a bit of a stomp, like she's doing things with a tantrum, although her face is completely cryptic.

"Are you mad?" he asks cautiously, poking his fingers on each other like a scolded child.

"Nope. Why would I be?"

"Yesterday…"

"Yesterday I got the job done." She interrupts after powering off her main console, "Now it's time to go. You're due for breakfast with the El Search Party and I'd like to set up shop once I've finished my business with Add. Get yourself out of that vessel. I'm pretty sure you can move on your own now."

She crosses her arms and looks at him impatiently.

Yuno obeys with downcast face, and hovers off from his vessel.

"Can you move it, please? For El's sake I already fixed you, don't tell me you're still broken."

"Why are you being mean?" he asks, looking at her, eyes wide with tones of hurt.

"Because you're wasting my time!" she says with a tone Yuno thinks is unnecessarily high. He flinches and shrinks as she continues, "We have Cobo express waiting outside, and I already paid for the trip. Now I still have to dismantle the vessel later tonight so I can send it back to Add as well, which means I got a lot on my plate aside from dealing with you!"

He's only known her voice to be sweet, albeit exact. But her choices of words had always been inviting, always giving him a reason to speak out his mind. Now, she's like a completely different person. While a great part of him stubbornly insists that this is not the real Echo, and that she might be infected by a mean virus or something, he didn't have enough resolve in him to go through that idea.

But he did manage to voice his thoughts as hovers pass her.

"You know, if being fixed means not being your friend anymore then I wish you just kept me broken."

He dashes up to where her main shop is and rushes out of the main door. As soon as the bright sun light greets him, he lost the rebellious adrenaline. Looking around he finds himself right in the middle of a busy street, humans, demons, lizardmen and some phorus talking, trading, enjoying what appears like everyday life. It's a fascinating thing to see – this taste of civilization – a warm reprieve from the rather cold scene inside.

Passersby see him and give well-meaning smiles, a couple of giggles from teenage girls, probably feeling like they're looking at a large pet or something. His kind is no stranger here, obviously.

"The town of Elder." He hears Echo's voice. He turns around and sees her locking on the fort. She has that signature satchel across her, and an unreadable expression. Sunlight makes her squint. It's clear she hasn't been out that often, although now that she is Yuno can make out a good deal of skin on her afforded to him by a skimpy choice of tank top. He immediately knew she's pretty the first time he got his sights back, but now he's seeing the precious details that make this small, rather brutish girl charming in so many ways. Whatever distance she has made between them doesn't stop him from looking at those details, and despite his heavy heart he found a small smile forming on his face.

"You really ARE pretty." He tells her, softly, sounding rather sweet while not intending to. He knows she won't accept such comments.

True enough, Echo simply gives off a subtle huff, eyes closed, and walks pass him. Though he did see hints of red hues on her cheeks.

Two large yellow birds are waiting a few blocks away from her shop. They're making random cawing noises and flapping their large wings. Getting his excitement back, Yuno hovers towards them and pets one. The 8-foot tall creature shakes, pleased at the gesture, and acknowledges him almost immediately.

"Let's go." Echo tells him, jumping on top of one and holding the rails. "You're not hovering to Feita. You'll deplete your reserve. Get on the bird."

Yuno considers for a moment how much more fun it would be if she doesn't have such a cold expression, now that he's getting his first Cobo ride. Deciding ultimately he rather follow than make her more upset, Yuno lands on the ground, hops a bit to quickly appreciate his leg power, and jumps on his Cobo.

He tries to sneak a smile towards Echo, but she's already facing forward on her cobo. She pulls the rails up, and then lashes slightly, sending the bird dashing forth. Yuno imitates and soon finds himself riding the wind.

The sky above thickens with more cloud as they cover more and more ground. A few paces in front of him Echo's cobo takes a steady speed. The young alchemist pulls out what looks like a banner of some sort and waves it in the air. They've reached the borders of Feita. Two armored guards greet them with a salute, after which Echo pushes the banner inside her satchel.

The cobos decrease their speed gradually as they enter the town proper. They take a full stop upon reaching a large house, almost like a mansion. Windows from the upper stories are open, telling Yuno the residents are in. The front porch is elegantly decorated with home-grown flora of all kinds, making it a warm scenery.

Before Yuno could wonder who the residents are, he hears familiar voices from behind the house.

"Let's go." Echo tells him. She hops off her cobo, and Yuno does the same. The birds make loud cawing noises as if bidding them farewell and dashes away.

Echo leads the way towards the back of the house where a couple of teens are gathered around a table. Two girls push through the back door carrying large plates of bacon, eggs and pancakes in their arms.

"Elsword, get your butt in here and help us out." Says the girl with the purple hair.

A redheaded boy rolls his eyes and runs towards her. He snags the plates from her and quickly plants a kiss on her cheek, ending the deed with a devious smirk.

While it all seemed like a regular scene to everyone in the table, it all comes to a stop when the tall, black-haired girl drops the plates she was carrying and gasps.

"Oh my God…" she whispers, looking at Yuno.

All heads turn towards their direction.

"Hi everyone!" Yuno calls out, waving his hands as high as he can just like how he used to.

Everyone stares at him, mouth-gaped and clearly in disbelief. The backdoor opens again and out comes Echo's client, chewing on a strip of bacon. He looks at them both, and then smirks at Echo.

"About time." He says coolly.

That's when everyone around the table goes running towards them. Elsword reaches him first and holds his arms. His crimson eyes, still a bit confused, scans Yuno's face.

"Yuno," he whispers.

"Hello Elsword." He says innocently, smiling after realizing his friend was just unsure of what was happening.

Elsword's face brightens with a big smile, suddenly overjoyed at the surprise of seeing a friend he once thought was lost. He pulls Yuno into a hug, which the NASOD boy happily accepts and returns.

"Yuno!" a high pitch scream startles him a bit. Ara got left behind in the dash towards him and is now just recently making her way to her. She's already crying and sniffling when a laughing Elsword gives way for her, wiping his own meager tears.

"You're alive! You're alive!" she repeats a couple of times, nearly choking the lad with how her arms are coating his neck. She's shaking, so Yuno gently soothes her with pats on her back. He closes his eyes and relishes her embrace. Aside from Elsword's, it was her cries that he heard last before he succumbed to that great fall.

"Alright guys, leave some for the rest of us."

He recognized Chung's voice as he walks calmly to their group. Ara caresses Yuno's cheeks one more time before stepping aside for the Iron Paladin.

Chung captures Yuno in a hug of his own – tighter, more profound, like Chung was doing something he regretted not doing before. While the blonde takes his sweet time squeezing him, another pair of small arms captures Yuno from behind. He turns his head and sees a silky wave of purple hair accompanied by a pout and a set of teary eyes.

"You dummy!" Aisha tells him, "Why'd you have to go and kill yourself?"

Chung leans away and pats Yuno on the face before stepping back.

"That was the only thing I could think to save you guys."

"Which is why you, good sir," Elesis says while walking towards him and holding his face in her hands, "are a true, and brave friend."

She plants a kiss on Yuno's forehead. The NASOD boy giggles and leans towards the Grand Master. She then pushes Yuno back, gives him an evil smirk, and quickly moves out of the way. Behind her, another NASOD stands, the beautiful queen who awed Yuno on their first meeting. She hovers towards him while the rest of the party watches expectantly, Ara and Aisha whispering and chuckling amongst themselves.

Clueless as to what's happening, he nonetheless smiles widely at Eve. Expecting to get another hug or anything of that sort, he instead got a hard slap.

Yuno was surprised to say the least. It's not the first slap he received from her, but after all that warm welcome he was somewhat hoping for a less painful greeting.

"Fool!" she says, as loud as her soft, gusty voice can afford, "You don't get to decide to die for our sake."

He's still trying to get over her assault that what she said didn't register that much. Slowly, her cold demeanor melts, and she closes her eyes, tears pouring down the side of her face, and she takes him in a gentle embrace. Her small frame feels delicate for Yuno as he returns the gesture. When she pulls away, he's surprised to see a smile on her face.

* * *

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword or any of its characters

* * *

Chapter 6

* * *

"Is that what you wanted to see?"

Echo asks. The young man beside her is leaning on a tree, arms crossed and looking happily content.

"Yes, more than anything." He answers. His eyes are on the queen, and without the calculating sinister vibe from his beady orbs he projects nothing short of affection towards her.

A young couple exits the backdoor, both in shock at first with the elf lady having her hands on her mouth. Yuno takes a moment to explain details to them before getting into a festive mood. Elsword then grabs the NASOD boy by the hand and leads him to whatever messy pile of breakfast they had prepared. Ara had hurried inside the kitchen to get more while Eve sits beside Yuno for company.

Echo looks at the elf, a Night Watcher, who seems to have more glow than she could remember. Then she looks down her body and sees something noticeably different.

"Is Rena…"

"4 months in." Add finishes. "You clearly missed a lot."

Rena catches them both watching and waves. Echo waves back while Add gives a curt nod. A large NASOD arm sneaks its way around Rena's waist, and is shortly followed by a kiss from the owner. Raven whispers something to Rena which the girl chuckles at. He sees the pair idly standing by the tree and walks towards them.

"Congratulations on your weeding," Echo tells the Veteran Commander as he reaches their spot, "And for being a father."

"Thank you." Raven tells her, "You weren't at the reception, though."

"Yeah, sorry about that. You know me when it comes to crowds."

"I wasn't exactly overflowing with confidence that you'd show up. Still I was hoping for it. Thanks for bringing Yuno back to us." He says.

"For now." Echo corrects with a bit of frustration, "He'll need his terminal in Atlas to reboot his entire system."

"Why?" Raven asks.

"Power regulation issue. Something big got him started, and we don't have that something here." Add answers him.

"I'll contact Toma and see if he still has my old warship in his backyard. That should get us across the continent and into the higher ups quickly." Raven suggests. Add nods in approval

"You're eating with us of course." Raven offers in a demanding tone. Echo smiles at him, and throws a leg on the ground bashfully.

"Maybe."

Raven grunts and pokes her on the nose playfully before walking back to their group.

Once they're alone again, Add steps in front of Echo.

"So, I guess we still have business to conclude." Add says. Before he could pull out a bag of loot from his coat, Echo beats him to it by pulling one from her satchel and handing it to him forcefully.

"No, we don't." she tells him.

"What are you doing? We had a transaction, and you've settled your end."

"I shouldn't have to be paid for helping out a friend." Echo says. Add takes a moment in confusion, but then finally understands what she means. They both gaze back at the loud group of kids eating breakfast outside, now one member bigger.

Echo sees the happiness on Yuno's face. He belongs here, she thought. With people who understand how precious he is. Not with someone who thinks of him nothing more as reconstituted junk. Their exchange yesterday and early this morning flashes a painful sting in her chest, and she looks away in guilt. While it's sort of justified that she had to push him away to make this separation a lot easier, she knows there were lots of better ways to do it. Perhaps she's not such a decent person, she thinks.

She starts to walk away, but then Add calls out to her.

"Hey, come on, breakfast."

"I need to go."

"No you don't." Add says, annoying Echo that he knows her all too well, "Don't make me explain your absence again."

"I'm sure you're used to it by now."

"Uh-huh, I was, right up to the point when you finally admitted to having friends." Add tells her coyly. She just smiles at him, but doesn't make any movement to comply. Add sighs. He knows he won't be able to convince her.

"Take care of Yuno, Add."

* * *

Her trip back was a very quick one, at least for her. She wished she could take more time with the wind blowing strongly on her face on top that cobo. Then again, she wished to be anywhere else but back in her lab, the same lab she was anxious to return to just a few hours ago.

She had a lot of time to think about the things she needed to do to get things organize here after a long time, but all the thoughts that came in was filled with yellow hair, blue eyes, and a sweet voice. The walls in her lab now reverberate every aspect of him, and she couldn't bring herself to do anything without thinking of him. She walks towards her console, lifeless and quiet unlike the past few days. Beside it is a rectangular device with it's small, blinking red light getting her attention. Her recorder.

She reads through the information on the screen: record time is 378 hours. It hasn't stopped recording since Add brought Yuno in.

She flicks through the first entry and plays

 _Okay, entry number 341 – sponsored project by one Edward Granore, also known as Add. Focus subject deemed non-living material until otherwise proven by procedure._

The vessel still stands in the middle of her lab, waiting to be dismantled. As she listens to the entries she recorded, she walks towards the cold container and positions herself in, crunching into a ball. The vessel moves as if sensing her entry and inclines to a horizontal position.

 _Hey, that tickles!_

She plays that part again where she hears his voice for the first time before continuing the rest of the entry. The exchange that follows makes her smile. She closes her eyes and savors that childish voice, keeping the idea at the back of her mind that tells her she won't be hearing it again outside of this recording.

 _I'm happy to be your friend, Echo._

She stops the recording at that point, and starts crying. The cold, lifeless laboratory reflects her sobs, her moans, even as she tries to fight it off.

While attempting to wipe her tears she accidentally presses a button that plays another entry.

 _You're a great person, Echo. I'm so happy you get to be the one to fix me. I like you a lot._

And just like that the cold, self-loathing feeling is replaced by warmth, by memory that has put more color on her face than the sun on her tanned skin. She closes her eyes as she crunches further into a ball on his vessel and hits play again. After that, she decides to put one last entry into the recorder.

"Yuno…"

* * *

The White Crow is a rather primitive piece of engineering, but he wasn't about to voice that out, especially with its captain always within earshot. And it's not like it's doing its job poorly. For a self-operating warcraft it's riding itself in the high clouds fluidly.

He walks over the edge of the ship and sees a familiar looking town below, houses lit up with small lanterns and poles making them look like an art piece from where he stands. The tallest structure in the middle gives a memorable clang, and immediately it brings his mind to where he feels his heart has been left behind.

"Echo," he speaks her name, and his chest thrums widely. So much so that it almost hurt.

He wonders what she's doing at this very moment.

"You miss her already huh?" Raven asks, flipping through the panels on a hologram screen.

"Uh – who?" he responds with a question of his own in an attempt to coat the truth. Raven's eyes left the screen and he grins at him knowingly.

The NASOD boy's shoulders drop and he finally expresses that frown he's been holding all this time. With a flick of a switch Raven removes the panels surrounding him.

"Let me venture a guess – cute and mean alchemist girl softened up her tough façade but then lashes out when she realized you were going to part ways eventually."

That's such an accurate summary it annoys Yuno for a bit. The expression helps Raven confirms such guess and it makes him laugh. As the NASOD turns away from him to rest his arms on the ship, Raven quietly executes a specific command on the console. He opens the coat Rena had given him and leans on the railings beside Yuno.

"I miss her. In a lot of ways."

"I'm sure she misses you too."

"No she doesn't." he answers with pained resolved, looking up at his taller companion, "She's probably happy to get rid of me"

"You know that's not true."

Yuno buries his face in his arms but keeps his gaze on the beautiful lights below. "I don't want it to be. And something tells me it's not." He says.

Raven allows Yuno to struggle with his thoughts for a few minutes. While he's always the one to throw himself in to keep his friends from getting hurt, he sees it to it he doesn't spare them from the kind of pain that'll help them grow. That look on Yuno's face – so much like Elsword's when he's still lost in the boarders of being a friend or something more to Aisha.

"I never got to asked – how did it feel like being dead?" he asks, notwithstanding the grim nature of the topic.

Yuno looks at him, confused but willing to accommodate. "It didn't really feel anything. I'm not sure you'd even call me dead. It's just blackness everywhere. Rather than being dead, it was more like being lost in the dark."

Raven nods thoughtfully, then speaks out his point. "I see. Kind of like how Echo lives."

"Huh?"

"Being a professional, high profiled alchemist of her caliber Echo never really gets out of her lab. Which means her life pretty much boils down to what she does for a living, which also means she's the last person to ever be honest with her feelings. So if you know what being lonely in the dark feels like, Echo would probably know it more having lived it most of her life. That said, you can always count on her to get the job done. Always. There are times when she'd bypass other customers just to cook up a good crystal for us." Raven says, smiling as he recalls how she looked when Elsword pestered her for a special treatment.

"Yeah, Echo always pulls through, and our party wouldn't be able to withstand all the problems in the world without her." Raven continues. "I'm wondering though. She always charges us for her services – why didn't she take Add's payment this time?"

Raven knew the answer all too well, but still feigns confusion. Yuno's wide, surprised eyes stick on him, as if waiting for him to answer his own question.

"Why?"

Raven looks down at him, and smiles like he would a little brother who just realized something important. Yuno looks away, feeling all sorts of resolve coming to him. He then notices the ship has taken a subtle stop.

"Why indeed," Raven tells him. "I guess you should go find out, huh?"

* * *

End of Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword or any of its characters

* * *

(last chapter)

Chapter 7

* * *

He's been burning through his energy reserve faster. He knew that, right before leaping from Raven's ship. But that doesn't matter to him. The only thing that does is getting back to her.

He's breathing heavily by the time he reached her place. It looks desolate. Not that he's ever seen it lively, but a few hours through the evening has given things a lifeless vibe. The large gate of her shop awaits him, and he takes the strong resolve he's been building up and gestures to knock with authority.

Before he could, the rusted edges of the gate thunders open and a young alchemist with silken sand hair stops in her tracks on seeing a boy with his knuckles just above her head. Both stare at the other, barely a breath from one another, before taking their steps back.

Yuno blushes and losses grip of whatever will power he had earlier. Tentatively his gaze goes to her, and he sees a fidgeting small girl, looking down and red-eyed. She had been crying. And by the looks of her outfit and the slightly bigger bulk of her satchel, she had been doing so while preparing for a few days trip.

"Hi," he says.

Echo doesn't respond. She stands there, feet pointed in an odd way and brushing slightly on the ground, her bangs covering most of the face Yuno has grown to love.

"Raven told me – you never took Elriorite." He tells her, "I want to know why."

She's got her walls up pretty good, despite refusing to look at him. Despite the flustered look she's hiding. Despite the vulnerable state she's in. Yuno finally sees her beyond who she showed herself to be. A lonely girl who has kept the loneliness to herself, watching the world with her friends pass her by, not being able to reach out and stop them from leaving.

It doesn't seem like she's about to do anything to get away from their current situation. But Yuno knows he won't let this opportunity go away. Then, between Echo's hands squeezed over her chest, Yuno notices a rectangular device. Something he remembers seeing in her lab.

Right then, he decides to muster the courage to pull her out of the darkness.

"Fine, it you don't want to talk to me, then I'll talk."

He stomps forward and snags the recorder from her hand.

"This is Yuno, son of Adrian." He says, keeping the device recording while looking bravely at the perplexed Echo, "I've now been fully restored, and will now return to Atlas. I make this entry to tell my savior…" he closes his eyes and goes through the many waves of emotion he wants to say, and then finally decides to start with the most powerful one.

"Thank you. Thank you for fixing me, and giving me another chance to life. I also want to tell her that she's the best thing that has ever happened to me, and… if I have to I… I'll happily jump down a thousand mile drop again if it means getting her friendship back."

Echo's eyes began watering at this point, but the stubborn alchemist still persists on staying behind her wall. While her lips quiver and her small frame compresses, she still looks away.

But Yuno hasn't finished his entry yet. He easily decides on his next words before opening his eyes and looking longingly at Echo.

"I want her to know I don't hate her. And that I don't believe she thinks I'm junk. But even if she does…" the concept of being seen as such is also painful for the boy, but he braves the idea and decides to send his message across.

His own eyes tearing up, he continues with shaking albeit stronger voice, "Even if she does think I'm junk, I don't care! Because this junk… this junk loves her, with everything it has."

Between the tears and snot forming down his contorted face Yuno sobs with clenched teeth. He feels embarrassment beneath all of it, yet still he tries to speak through the hic-ups, "I… love… her…."

A warm pair of hands grazes on his cheeks, encasing his face gently. He immediately stops crying. Echo takes out a small towel to wipe his face clean like she would a helpless child. She then pulls the recorder from Yuno to stop it from recording his supposed entry, and presses some buttons to play an entry of her own.

The small space between them gives way to her voice, small and raspy.

 _Yuno… it's me… I'm feeling all sorts of terrible right now, including the part where I'm not even telling you this in person. Okay, I guess, if you hate me by now you wouldn't want to listen to me for too long, so I'll try to be concise. First of, I'm sorry for saying those horrible things to you, heck for being horrible to you. I didn't want to part ways like that, and I wished I didn't. More than that, I didn't want to hurt you – well, I did, but that's just me being a jerk. Anyway… um… hold on… Ouch!_

All sorts of stuff clangs in the background, and the image of her clumsily going through her stuff allows a soft chuckle from Yuno to which Echo quietly and playfully pouted at.

 _Alright, sorry about that. Second point – you're not junk. You're not, especially not to me, not in a million lifetimes! I'm a monster for telling you that you are. But I guess I told you that because I was the one feeling like a piece of junk. You know, people use me in a way, then leave me just like that. It doesn't make it okay to call you that, and I'll understand if you'll never forgive me for telling you that you are. But please try to understand this too – you're precious to me, Yuno. In many ways. I'm about to head over to Atlas Station to get that point across, though I guess it's going to take me forever to do that, but, well, I'm hoping this entry will reach you at least. Ah, hold on._

A pause follows, allowing Yuno to process what he just heard, and appreciate the emotions again growing inside of him.

Then her voice continues.

 _Um where did I put that… sorry, I wrote something up because I couldn't decide on the right thing to say – ah, here it is._

Echo clears her throat in the background like she was about to give a speech. Yuno waits patiently, and a bit amused.

 _I was in the dark till I saw you smile. And in silence till I heard you laugh. I felt nothing till we touched and you made me feel more alive than I was before you pulled me out of the darkness…Ugh, God that sounds so corny. But… it's the truth. I guess to summarize it all…_

Without thinking, Yuno reaches out to the recorder, and puts a finger on top of her thumb to make her press the stop button, and leave her with her own words.

"I love you." She whispers, still unable to look at him.

He changes this be closing the gap between them even more until they share a single warmth amidst the cold night. He smiles at her, lovingly, playfully, waiting for her to look at him while she remains as stubborn as ever.

"I'm hungry." He says softly.

She finally decides to break her walls from that and rolls her eyes so they land their gazes on one another. A triumphant grin meets her. She puts the recorder in her satchel, and pulls out a hot loaf of Wheat bread. She lifts the steaming bun close to his lips, and makes him hold it in both hands.

Before she could let go, he keeper her hands in place as he lifts the bread to take a small bite, his lips purposely brushing on hers in the process.

When her face ends up with the same clustered blush that he has, he knows he's got her, and his cheeky smile widens.

* * *

The end…

I hope you enjoyed that.

Reviews/comments are very much welcome and appreciated.


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